WHEN Andy Murray won Wimbledon in 2016, Henry Patten was at SW19 that fortnight, collecting stats on the outside courts in a bladder-testing role.
Eight years on, the Essex giant has the chance to be a statistical footnote by winning a Grand Slam title on grass.
Patten, 28, and Finnish mate Harri Heliovaara – who only came together in Morocco in April – face Australians Max Purcell and Jordan Thompson after the women’s singles final.
Only two British men since the Second World War – Jonathan Marray (2012) and Neal Skupski (2023) – have won the men’s doubles Championship on Wimbledon’s Centre Court.
Talking about his previous jobs, Patten explained: “I worked here in the summers while I was at college.
“I worked for IBM doing the courtside stats. During college I was never intending to play professional tennis.
“You’re either put in the outside courts team or if you’re good and switched on then you get put on the show courts team – and I was always on the outside.
“When I’m playing, especially on the outside courts, you can spot someone in an IBM T-shirt sitting in front of a computer, just tapping buttons and inputting all of the data.
“Oh, it’s brutal. I don’t know if they’ve changed it now but it was like two hours on 40 minutes off. I did it for two years.
“In the first year I was absolutely buzzing because you’re right next to the tennis, it’s amazing.
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“And then about four days in you just break down. Maybe that’s why I wasn’t promoted…”
The unseeded and unlikely pairing of Patten and Heliovaara, 35, almost never made it to the Slam after the Helsinki hitter suffered a tear in his shoulder at the French Open.
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But he managed to recover in time for July and they have knocked out the No4 and No5 seeds and then the defending champion Skupski in the semi-finals.
Colchester-born Patten added: “I had summer internships in the States working in wealth management.
“Harri’s also had quite an unconventional journey here so I think that’s quite nice – we relish that.
“Lots of the guys are purely tennis and I have a lot of respect for those guys.
“But I think for both of us, it’s nice that we have other things going on in our lives.
“It’s surreal to even be playing a final to be honest. I feel very privileged.
“I’m very appreciative of this, Harri took a little bit of a gamble to play with me given the gap in the rankings and gap in experience as well.
“He thought I was a good player but it meant he had to drop down a little bit. It’s nice to see that investment can pay off.”
